This Indian Professor is making EV batteries for Army to use in Himalayas

In 2020, Dr. S.R.S. Prabaharan was serving as a professor and Director of Research at a leading university, secure at the peak of a well-paying academic and administrative career. Yet, something deeper kept calling to him: the conviction that real breakthroughs in battery technology, particularly solid-state lithium-metal systems, were within reach.

For him, battery R&D wasn’t just a profession, it was a passion. Many nights, he would be found sketching cell architectures and running simulations long after the world had gone to sleep. That same year, while still teaching and leading research, he co-founded Inventus Battery Energy Technologies with the vision of positioning India at the forefront of energy storage innovation.

For the next two years, Dr. Prabaharan balanced two worlds: academia and entrepreneurship. Inventus grew steadily, powered by collaborations and national projects. But by November 2022, he knew the moment had come. He left his professorship to focus on Inventus full-time. It was a risk, yes but a calculated one. His

years in academia had given him not only deep technical expertise but also credibility and a network of collaborators that could accelerate Inventus’s journey.

Unlike conventional lithium-ion batteries, Inventus’s solid-state batteries use only solid materials, eliminating the flammable liquid electrolytes that make traditional cells hazardous. Alongside co-founders Siluvai Michael and Cecil Lazarus, Dr. Prabaharan now leads Inventus as it validates its 5Ah/4.3V solid-state pouch cells and advances toward commercialization.

Inventus Accelerating India’s Shift to Electric Mobility

Inventus’s solid-state battery technology is designed for multiple high-demand applications, arriving at a time when India is striving to become a global hub for electric vehicles (EVs).

According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), more than half of three-wheelers, about 5% of two-wheelers, and just 2% of cars sold in 2024 were electric. The Indian EV battery market is on a steep growth path, projected to rise from US$ 16.77 billion in 2023 to US$ 27.70 billion by 2028.

“One of the biggest issues with current electric cars is that they take almost an hour to charge up to 60–70%, which gives you around 200 kilometers of range. In contrast, our battery can charge to 80% in about 10 minutes, giving you approximately 400 kilometers of range. This means you don’t have to spend long waiting at a charging point, a major advantage for mobility applications,” said Dr Prabaharan.

He compares it to waiting at a petrol station, where we usually spend five to ten minutes filling the tank. With Inventus’s battery, EV owners can enjoy a similar refuelling-time experience, something still rare with the battery systems currently in use.

In a solid-state battery, the risk is eliminated because the liquid electrolyte is replaced with solid cathode, electrolyte, and anode, the three essential components that make up a cell. Multiple cells together form a battery.

Many companies worldwide, from QuantumScape in the US to Toyota and Samsung, are working on solid-state batteries. But Cecil Lazarus, Co-Founder & CFO of Inventus Battery Energy, says their unique feature is an electrolyte made as a flexible ceramic membrane, trademarked as Ceramion.

“Ceramion functions as the electrolyte in the battery, combining the advantages of ceramic’s stability with the flexibility required for practical manufacturing and integration,” he said.

SSB’s Use Cases Across Space and Defence Sectors

Solid-state batteries that use ceramic as a key component offer applications well beyond electric mobility, opening doors to other sectors and strengthening their commercial viability.

Inventus’s solid-state battery, built with a ceramic-based solid electrolyte, can withstand a wide range of climates even extremes like -250°C during the lunar night. “They are ideal for defence applications in high-altitude cold regions like the Himalayas, where pressure variations don’t matter, and they can operate at temperatures up to 90°C. In comparison, existing lithium-ion batteries can’t function reliably beyond 40°C to 50°C, and even at 50°C, their liquid electrolyte starts degrading,” observed Dr Prabharan.

Inventus expects that within the next 24 months, it will be able to demonstrate a commercially ready, scalable product in collaboration with OEMs such as Mahindra, Tata, and other automakers already active in the EV space.

Recyclability & Regulatory Support

Following an unconventional path has not been easy for Inventus Battery Energy, and, according to the co-founders, the toughest challenge was making Ceramion flexible enough to function as a membrane.

“Many companies are developing solid electrolytes in their own proprietary ways. They typically make it as a kind of substrate or sheet. Every material has its own strength characteristics, such as creep or how it responds under pressure. These sheets tend to have issues with flexibility. We took on the challenge to develop an oxide ceramic solid electrolyte that is flexible,” said Lazarus.

While electric vehicles (EVs) are a key solution for reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainability, a major challenge within this ecosystem remains battery waste management and environmental impact, given the expected surge in disposal volumes.

EVs rely on lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), which typically last six to ten years. India faces a serious challenge in managing the growing pile of spent batteries and ensuring their safe, sustainable disposal.

In 2022, India generated approximately 1.6 million metric tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste), with lithium batteries alone accounting for 700,000 metric tonnes. Inventus distinguishes itself here: its solid-state battery can be directly shredded and recycled.

“Recycling solid-state batteries is much simpler compared to the complex processes used for retired lithium-ion cells. In fact, the necessary recycling machinery for solid-state batteries already exists, making the process straightforward and completely recyclable without extra complexity,” highlighted Dr Prabharan.

Dr. Prabaharan holds a PhD in Electronics, with his thesis focused on Lithium-Ion Conducting Solid Electrolytes for Solid-State Batteries. Inventus has also received grants from the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) in Delhi, under the Department of Science and Technology, to push its solid-state battery technology to the next stage.

Regarding regulatory approvals, the co-founder believes that obtaining certification from bodies like the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) should be more straightforward, given that solid-state batteries are inherently much safer.

“Our technology not only meets but exceeds the performance parameters outlined under the Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) PLI scheme, including cell voltage, capacity, and energy density. Given this, I believe regulatory bodies will find it straightforward to evaluate and validate our product,” co-founders added.

If it comes off, Inventus’s technology could reshape more than India’s roadways. It could determine how soldiers keep their kit running in the Himalayas, or how machines endure the darkness of a lunar night. For Prabaharan, the real journey has always been bigger: taking the rough sketches scribbled after midnight and turning them into innovations built to survive the most unforgiving corners of Earth – and beyond.